Artist recalled church's curved structure (4)
I believe the answer is:
arch
'curved structure' is the definition.
(architectural structure)
'artist recalled church's' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'recalled' is a reversal indicator (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'ra' backwards is 'ar'.
'ar'+'ch'='ARCH'
(Other definitions for arch that I've seen before include "Consummate" , "Marble, for example" , "Curved masonry construction" , "Curved bony structure in the foot" , "Masonry construction for spanning an opening" .)